PummelsAt a press conference this Monday, Biden administration press secretary Jen Psaki condemned ex-President Trump’s latest defense of those who perpetrated the attack on the Capitol last January. At a Saturday rally in Texas, the former president indicated that if he becomes president again he would be inclined towards issuing pardons for individuals who have been criminally charged for participating in that Capitol riot, which remains under wide-ranging investigation. Those who had parts in the violence perpetrated offenses such as scores of brutal assaults on police officers, but Trump has repeatedly made no distinction between those who had a hand in January 6 when making his defenses for the day. He seems essentially fine with sweeping aside assaults on law enforcement, threats to the lives of government leaders, allegations by federal prosecutors of seditious conspiracy, and more.
Mr. Trump’s public confession last night, all but daring the Attorney General to seek a grand jury indictment against him for seditious conspiracy and for giving aid and comfort to an insurrection to “overturn the election,” is the last straw. The Government must call his bluff.
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) January 31, 2022
Psaki commented as follows:
‘So, in terms of the former president, his actions represented a unique and existential threat to our democracy, as [President Biden] has said many times. But his remarks this weekend — he defended the actions of his supporters who stormed the Capitol and brutally attacked the law enforcement officers protecting it. I think it’s important to shout that out and call that out. He even attacked his own vice president for not, in his words, having overturned the election. And it’s just a reminder of how unfit he is for office. And it’s telling that even some of his closest allies have rejected those remarks as inappropriate in the days since.’
Check out Psaki’s comments below:
“It’s just a reminder of how unfit he is for office.”
— WH Press Sec. Jen Psaki on Trump’s speech this weekend defending 1/6 insurrectionists pic.twitter.com/4G61ZPE2HI
— The Recount (@therecount) January 31, 2022
Trump stated over the weekend that “another thing we’ll do — and so many people have been asking me about it — if I run and if I win, we will treat those people from January 6 fairly. We will treat them fairly… And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons. Because they are being treated so unfairly.” As for the Trump allies who’ve spoken out against the comments, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is on the list. He said on CBS over the weekend that he would not “want to send any signal that it was okay to defile the Capitol.” And yet, couldn’t that be said to be the exact signal that’s sent by Graham’s continued fervent support of the former president, who continues to defend January 6? Still, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) also said that she does “not think the president should have made — that President Trump should have made that pledge to do pardons.”
Trump uses language he knows caused the Jan 6 violence; suggests he’d pardon the Jan 6 defendants, some of whom have been charged with seditious conspiracy; threatens prosecutors; and admits he was attempting to overturn the election.
He’d do it all again if given the chance.
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) January 31, 2022
Trump has yet to formally announce that he’s running for president again, but that seems to be the direction in which he is heading. He continues to seemingly crave the spotlight, and there’s no indication that he has plans to give it — or his lies about the integrity of the last election — up any time soon. As long as Republicans keep propping him up, they’re complicit in the threats posed by his affronts against democracy.
Trump backers: there was no coup and Trump wasn't behind it
Trump: my coup almost worked and I want another one
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) January 31, 2022
